Meg Gardiner's six favorite crime fiction books

Meg Gardiner is the author of sixteen acclaimed, award-winning novels. Her thrillers have been bestsellers in the U.S. and internationally and have been translated into more than twenty languages. China Lake won an Edgar Award and UNSUB, the first in Gardiner’s acclaimed UNSUB series, won a Barry Award. Her third UNSUB novel, The Dark Corners of the Night, has been bought by Amazon Studios for development as a television series. A former lawyer, three-time Jeopardy! champion, and two-time president of Mystery Writers of America, Gardiner lives in Austin, Texas.

[The Page 69 Test: The Dirty Secrets Club; The Page 69 Test: The Memory Collector; My Book, The Movie: Meg Gardiner's Evan Delaney series; The Page 69 Test: The Liar's Lullaby; My Book, The Movie: Meg Gardiner's Jo Beckett series; The Page 69 Test: The Nightmare Thief; The Page 69 Test: Ransom River; The Page 69 Test: The Shadow Tracer; The Page 69 Test: Phantom Instinct; The Page 69 Test: UNSUB; The Page 69 Test: Into the Black Nowhere; The Page 69 Test: The Dark Corners of the Night]

Gardiner's new novel, with director Michael Mann, is Heat 2. At The Week magazine Gardiner tagged six favorite books about crooks and their hunters, including:

These Women by Ivy Pochoda (2020)

In this chilling, immersive Los Angeles murder mystery, a killer targets victims who seem to have little to lose. The suspense builds relentlessly. Ivy Pochoda's portrayal of the tenacity of women who live on the edges is beautiful and stiletto-sharp.

Read about another entry on the list.

These Women is among Eliza Jane Brazier's ten top thrilling stories of Los Angeles, Stephen Miller's favorite crime titles of 2020 and Smith Henderson and Jon Marc Smith's ten American masterpieces that are actually crime fiction.

The Page 69 Test: These Women.

--Marshal Zeringue